Adventure Comics Vol 1 39
, are shot down and captured by aides of Count Guniff, France's most wanted criminal. After an interrogation, the prisoners are dropped into a subterranean chamber that begins to fill with water. While encouraging the Inspector to keep his head above the water, Barry dives down below and finds a drainage valve that he turns with all his might. A gate in the wall of the chamber is opened and the water starts to pour out, with Barry and LeGrand being caught in the force and swept through the opening into an underground channel. The water in here is only ankle-high, so the two of them start searching the passages for an exit. Unfortunately, even down in the catacombs they haven't completely eluded the guards, as one on patrol spots them through the dark and fires his gun. The guard is taken out by one of Barry's bullets, but the sound alerts the Count and his men, who come running to Barry and the Inspector's location. Back at the airport, after hours without any report from Barry, the radio officers contact the Maignon Base requesting any possible information on his arrival. But the base hasn't seen any sign of him. An order is put out by the Flight Commander to send out a search pattern using their fastest planes. Following the route taken by Barry and LeGrand, the detachment finally sights their objective, the wreckage of a small plane on the ground near the mountains. On closer inspection, the pilots could identify it as one of their planes, riddled with bullet holes, but with no sign of Barry or LeGrand. Barry and the Inspector, meanwhile, find an exit out of the underground passageway only to be cut off by the enemy's guards. Barry tries to fire his pistol, only to find that he has run out of ammo. Reluctantly, they are taken back to face Count Guniff once again. But before sending them to their deaths, the Count decides to let them in on his plan. He turns Barry and LeGrand's attention to a machine behind him, which he explains will completely destroy the entire Maignon Defense at the pull of a lever, when the time is right. For now, Count Guniff ties his two would-be interlopers to posts, as his men pour buckets of gasoline on their clothing. Barry and LeGrand watch helplessly as the Count lights a match and starts to bring it closer and closer to their fuel-soaked bodies. | Appearing1 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * Antagonists: * Count Guniff ** Guniff's band Other Characters: * French Military Aviators Locations: * ** Vehicles: * French 2-engine military plane | StoryTitle2 = Cotton Carver, World Adventurer: "The Temple of the Heartstone" | Synopsis2 = Cotton Carver and Volor the dwarf, while fleeing from the soldiers of the White Queen, Kothe, seek refuge in the forbidden Temple of the Heartstone, which is the very same stone that was given to him (much earlier) by Loalla, and which Cotton now wore around his neck. Kothe, who has been their captive until now, warns Cotton and Volor of the Watcher that guards the temple. Carver leads the group onward, deeper into the temple's interior, with Kothe pleading for him to stop almost every step of the way. Down a long winding stairwell and through a long corridor, Cotton pauses at the other end, where he notices an indentation in the far wall, where he believes the heartstone was meant to be placed. A shriek from Kothe, announcing the Watcher, interrupts his thoughts, and Cotton turns to see a fantastic creature, with the head and tail of a cat, and the body of a man. It carries a flail and swings it at Cotton, who dodges and counters to no effect. Volor rushes towards the watcher but is swept aside by a glancing blow, giving Cotton enough time to wound the creature with a pistol shot. While the watcher is on the floor, he crosses over to the wall and places the stone into the indentation. The Heartstone begins to glow and a section of the wall beside it slowly opens, revealing a passage with a long slide heading downward. The watcher stands up again and addresses Cotton as his new master for beating him in combat, and together with Volor and the distraught Kothe, the four of them slide down the sloping passageway, further and further downwards, until they drop safely outside in an unknown land. An archer standing nearby the passage's exit greets them, calling himself Voggoth of the Kralman Guard, and asks how Cotton came through the "forbidden path of peril." Cotton explains that he's from what the people here call the outer crust, and is only looking for a way back home. Voggoth offers to help him find the way if the group would only go with him to the Shrine of Dagan, the god who reigns over his people. Inside the shrine is a golden statue of a man holding an axe and trident, standing on an altar, before which Voggoth kneels. Suddenly, the statue speaks! It tells Voggoth to kill Cotton and his companions, as a sacrifice for him, Dagan. Cotton is forced to take up arms against the archer, who calls in the rest of his fellow archers, to help do away with the group. The Watcher and Volor do their best to fight off the reinforcements, letting Cotton and Voggoth duel. But the sheer number of attackers is proving too much for them to bear and the arrows begin to take their toll on the Watcher, while Volor is dying from the wounds he has received. Cotton finally breaks through the archer's defense and runs Voggoth through with his sword. That's when Kothe steps to his side and points out the statue of Dagan, which is now starting to move! | Appearing2 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * Volor * Queen Kothe Antagonists: * Golden statue of Dagan Other Characters: * The Watcher * Voggoth Locations: * ** White Warriors' country ** Thule *** Temple of Dagan Items: * Heartstone | StoryTitle3 = Federal Men: "Reefer Madness" | Synopsis3 = A group of teenagers drove into a gas station which they began to rob, afterwards they killed the attendant in cold blood and drove off. Their reckless driving makes them hit a pedestrian as they speed off down the road, laughing to themselves. The police arrested the boys soon after, and found out they were acting under the influence of marihuana. Steve Carson is called in to help find the one who supplied the teens with the drug. He tries to talk to the boys in their cell, but they avoid telling him about the dealer, scared for their lives if they talk. So instead, Steve visits the local high school that the boys attend and speaks with the Principal about the investigation. The Principal gives his full cooperation and hands him a list of students whose behavior has been odd of late. In an unused classroom, Steve gathers the students together and starts questioning the group, asking them about the person responsible for giving them the marihuana. But even as he continues pleading with the students to open up about the dealer's name, they all seem too frightened for their lives to say anything. Back in the Principal's office, Steve comes up with a new plan. Later that day, the school's loudspeaker sounds as the principal announces that an anonymous student has agreed to give Steve Carson the name of the marijuana supplier, and that they are currently discussing it in room 3A. It's there that he and the Principal now wait, the announcement serving as a ruse to try and lure the dealer to them. The door suddenly opens, and through it with a gun in hand walks the school's own Custodian, demanding to know where the teenager who ratted him out was. Once he realizes it was all a trick, the Custodian sets his sights on Steve and starts to pull the trigger. Steve reacts quickly, dodging to one side and firing his own gun into the suspect's shoulder. Subdued, the man is placed under arrest and taken back to police headquarters to be prosecuted. | Appearing3 = Featured Characters: * Antagonists: * School Custodian Other Characters: * School Principal Locations: * a local high school Items: * Marihuana | StoryTitle4 = Jack Woods: "Wolf Rucker's Trap, Part 1" | Synopsis4 = Jack Woods was a lone cowboy who travelled across the American trails on horseback. In this way, he has had many adventures and helped many more people. But right now his stomach rumbled and his throat was getting dry, he needed a place to rest and have a meal. Up ahead on the range sat a cabin, and two figures were having an argument in front. One of the men was armed, pointing his firearm threateningly at the older gentleman clutching a large chest, ordering him to hand it over. Jack stepped up behind the armed man and tried to disarm him, but the bandit whirled around to shoot him, so Jack had no choice but to fire. However, though he had saved his life, the old man spoke rudely to Jack and turned him away, refusing hospitality. Choked with wrath at the ungrateful old man, Jack continued on his way. Jack eventually came to a ranch house that was operated by a man named Wolf Rucker. He asked Wolf for some food and shelter in return for his services, to which the surly rancher agreed. His first job is to go meet the ranch's foreman, Marty Snell, and help him round up the livestock. Later Jack spied Wolf Rucker out in front of the ranch, doing some kind of business with an Indian from the Navajo tribe. That night, Jack was awakened by Wolf, who wanted him to make a delivery to town. He was handed a bag, and told to leave as soon as the lookout lights a match in front of the window. Wolf avoids answering, when asked what's in the bag, raising Jack's suspicions, so he waited until Wolf headed out to the bunkhouse before taking a peek. Inside the bag, Jack was surprised to find five thousand dollars in cash. He also noticed that the room he was in had been messed up, as though someone had robbed it. Things began falling into place: the foreman and Wolf were seeking to get Jack mistaken for a bandit and killed. Suddenly he noticed a vest hanging on the wall, the very same that the man he had shot back at the cabin had been wearing. Were the two ranchers trying to obtain vengeance for their fallen comrade? | Appearing4 = Featured Characters: * Antagonists: * Scar Tortilla * Wolf Rucker * Marty Snell Other Characters: * Old Man Locations: * Old West | StoryTitle5 = Steve Malone, District Attorney: "Auctioneer Dossier" | Synopsis5 = District Attorney Steve Malone receives a call from the Chief of Police requesting his presence at the old antique shop belonging to Abe Otzman. There he observes the body of Goop Okell, a wanted gangster, on the floor dead from a bullet wound. Steve examines a nearby gong, and finds a single cuff link lying next to it. The police on the scene report that two customers, Rhoda Daws and Pierre La France, along with Abe himself were the only witnesses that were present when Goop died. Questioning each of them separately reveals one common fact; Abe was selling a model fortress to the victim when the gunshot rang out. Steve examines the fort for himself, and discovers hidden inside the model are documents, containing top secret military plans. With the papers in hand, Steve next makes a stop at the government headquarters where a hurried midnight conference is held between the District Attorney and the Secret Service on how to proceed. The resulting decision is that Steve Malone continues investigating the case on their behalf. The following morning, Steve drives out to Pierre La France's address, arriving at a large apartment complex. The doorman tells him that Pierre is currently out on business, so Steve asks the gentleman to take him up to La France's apartment, explaining he was on a case. The home is tidy and organized, making it easy to search for clues. Steve finds a cuff link on the dresser that matches the one he found in the shop last night. Also, tucked into a drawer is a notebook with entries that proved La France knew about the military plans in the model. Steve felt he was closing in and called the Police Chief to send a few officers to back him up at Rhoda Daws apartment. Rhoda answers the door and invites Steve in, where Pierre La Franch is enjoying some wine while pointing a gun at him. He admits to knowing about the military documents, and that he and Rhoda visited the shop that day to collect them. But Steve becomes surprised when Rhoda tells him that they didn't kill Goop Okell. Because if that was the truth, then there was only one other person it could've been, and Steve has a hard time believing it. Regardless, with Pierre and Rhoda in tow, he and the police drive on back to Abe Otzman's antique shop, and search the store until Steve comes across the gong again. Acting on a hunch, he peers behind it, and suddenly he is shouting for help in moving the gong aside. Behind it is the missing gun! Rigged up on strings tied to the trigger, it was set-up to go off when the gong was struck with even the slightest force. The killer had likely tapped the gong when Goop was in the targeted area, so that he would be killed by a seemingly unseen assailant. Old Abe hobbles down the back steps at this point, to see what all the commotion is about. His jaw drops and his face goes pale when he sees what Steve had discovered. Goop had been his partner in a spy ring, until Abe found out that Okell was going to sell off the military documents that Abe had just sold to him. He yelled that he warned the double-crossing Goop to watch his back, and Abe kept good on his threat. After this revelation, Abe grabs a ceremonial dagger off the counter behind him and plunges the blade deep into his own chest. Pierre and Rhoda are arrested as international conspirators, while Steve muses to himself that Goop's death provided the biggest clue in uncovering a well-conceived spy ring. | Appearing5 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * Officer Cassidy Antagonists: * Pierre Le France * Abe Otzman * Rhoda Daws Other Characters: * Goop Okell | StoryTitle7 = Captain Desmo: "Captured By Col. Benback, Part 1" | Synopsis7 = One late evening in a small town in India, Gabby McGuire strolls through the dimly lit streets on his way to meet Captain Desmo. His movements are watched by four unsavory figures, hiding in the shadows. They whisper amongst themselves, calling Gabby a "decent specimen", and prepare to capture him. A feeling of unease comes over Gabby, he wheels around in time to see the rowdy natives rush him from an alley. Though outnumbered three-to-one, Gabby is able to give a good account of himself through fisticuffs, and manages to quell the ruffians, and pauses to catch his breath, leaving him off guard for the fourth member of the group to sneak up behind and bump Gabby on the back of the head with the butt of his revolver. The men recompose themselves and tie Gabby up on the back of a donkey as they set out for the hills. Captain Desmo waits impatiently for his friend, and asks a nearby old beggar if he had seen a "loud suit wearing a derby." The beggar points off behind the Captain, at a local native strutting across the street with a new derby hat, one that looks exactly Gabby derby. Desmo grabs the man by the shoulders and begins shaking him, demanding to know where he got the hat, and is told that it fell off the head of an American tourist that got into a fight with some slavers and was dragged off. Meanwhile Gabby is brought to the stronghold of the merciless and estremely greedy Colonel Benback. Gabby is told that he is to help them dig for gold in the mine, which will then be flown by plane out of the country, thus avoiding any customs, and wages. A beefy looking tough guy, appropriately nicknamed Crusher, leads Gabby down into the canyon where cruel guards are forcing men to operate a nearby mine, pushing them beyond their endurance, and whipping those that fall, until they continue their work. Inside the mine the conditions are worse, the air is stale and hot with the permeating odor of human bodies sweating. It is here that Gabby is given a pickaxe and told to begin, with a reminder that refusal means death, and that there are always more slaves where he came from, after all. Meanwhile and not far away, Captain Desmo has taken to the air, in order to search for his missing comrade. | Appearing7 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * Gabby McGuire Antagonists: * Colonel Benback * Butts * Crusher Other Characters: * slave miners Locations: * Vehicles: * Desmo's airplane | StoryTitle8 = Tom Brent: "Hong, the Tyrant" | Synopsis8 = Far up on the Sang Po river, Tom Brent guides a small boat laden with supplies from the accompanying treasure hunting party. Smoke is often seen billowing from the treetops that would suggest a tribe of natives, but strangely none have been sighted. But little do Tom and the others realize that even now they were being watched. The head of the group notifies Tom that their stop is up ahead by the beach where they will begin unloading the supplies. Once the boat is dragged up onto the sandy bank, however, Tom and the treasure hunting party are confronted by a band of ragged Chinese soldiers. Their leader speaks to the crew, saying that the supplies now belong to Hong, who rules over all the land, as evidenced by the smoke from burning villages. He orders Tom and the others to carry the supplies as they follow him to the fortified temple of Hong. Once inside the temple, the supplies are taken and the guards separate Tom from the rest of his party, throwing him in the dungeon. Tom finds that he has a cellmate, a Colonel Cross, who was captured while doing research not too far from the temple. That night Tom is awakened by a noise like distant thunder. Outside, the guards are thrown into a state of confusion. On a hill opposite the temple is a troop of government soldiers, loading another round into their cannon. Hong watches from the window of his room with amusement. Rather than flee, he decides to stay and watch the proceedings, a decision he'll pay for with his life, for the next mortar shell destroys the window and everything beyond. Hong is dead, and his men suddenly losr their will to fight. The prisoners are all set free, and Tom is sent back home with Colonel Cross, vouching for him to the government officials. | Appearing8 = Featured Characters: * Antagonists: * Chinese Army Deserters ** Hong ** Ming ** Soo Other Characters: * Colonel Cross * Hong's daugther Locations: * ** Sang Po River | StoryTitle9 = Skip Schuyler: "To Pitch Against the Yankees" | Synopsis9 = Skip Schuyler had been temporarily stationed at Fort Jay in the shadow of Manhattan's skyscrapers. He was sitting in his quarters polishing his boots when his old friend, Rusty Bellows, came rushing in. He told Skip about an upcoming benefit game to be played by Fort Jay, from which all the proceeds were going to the War Veterans' Hospital. And what's more, the New York Yankees themselves had volunteered their services for the cause, and Rusty wanted Skip to pitch against them. After all, everyone had heard the stories about his excellent throwing arm back when he was playing at West Point Military Academy. But Skip declined his friend's offer, saying that it had been far too long, and he had since lost the skill. He leaves a disappointed Rusty behind and walks outside to be by himself. The honest truth was that he would've loved to throw a pitch against the Yankees, but for a shoulder injury he had sustained a few years back. :The Army and Navy were holding their annual football game, and old Chuck Dean broke loose on a 65-yard touchdown, winning the game for the Army! Of course, the score wouldn't have been possible if it hadn't been for number 29, Skip Schuyler, who threw a crucial block on the Navy's safety man, who would have tackled Dean in seconds. The block had taken its toll, tearing a muscle in Skip's shoulder, sending him off the field with his arm dangling at his side. It was the injury that ended his pitching career before it ever really started, but Skip was too embarrassed to tell Rusty that. The next day, Skip was leaning against an artillery piece while reading his mail, when two men on the other side started talking. They had seen Rusty acting down in the dumps since yesterday, talking about how he had made a bet with his next month's salary that Fort Jay would be able to hold its own against the Yankees for three runs. Said he had a crack pitcher he was going to use, but apparently was turned down by whoever it was, leaving Rusty out of luck. Skip overheard everything and immediately felt bad that he let his friend down. If Rusty really had that much faith in him, though, then the least he could do was try. That afternoon, he strolled down to the stables to practice his throwing. At first, his shoulder tightened and strained against his efforts, but Skip found that as he pressed on it began to loosen a bit. Soon, he began throwing pitches like back in the day, and after a few more he ran off to find Rusty and tell him he had reconsidered the offer. The day of the benefit, out on the Fort Jay baseball field the Yankees were warming up with batting practice, while Skip and Rusty were practicing their throws by the first base. At the start of the game, Skip found that winning Rusty his bet would be much harder than they both thought. Two runs in and Fort Jay was barely hanging on. When he pitched to Lou Gehrig, the ball was sent back on a collision course with Skip's head, with only his hand to stop it. The force made his hand ache like never before, causing him a serious handicap in his next couple pitches. But finally, the Fort got its first two runs in, evening the score; 2-2. Rusty cheered his friend on, forgetting all about the bet in awe of Skip's talent. It was the last inning and Joe DiMaggio was last on bat. Skip had him with two strikes, and was preparing to pitch him out. And then, he threw a good fastball right to the plate. DiMaggio swung with all his might, and the ball was sent flying. As the Yankee rounded the bases, the tie was finally broken. The Yankees had won. However, Rusty seemed happy, for he was grinning to himself. The bet may be lost but seeing Skip pitch again was compensation enough. | Appearing9 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * Rusty Bellows Other Characters: * Ebb White * Chuck Dean * ** Spud Chandler ** Tommy Henrich ** Joe DiMaggio ** Lou Gehrig ** Frankie Crosetti ** Red Rolfe ** Charlie Keller ** Joe "Flash" Gordon Locations: * ** ** | StoryTitle10 = Rusty and His Pals: "The Pirate Ship, Part 14" | Synopsis10 = Long Sin and his evil crew have joined forces with Ebenezer Slade, together capturing Steve with the boys, Rusty, Specs, and Tubby. The Duchess, disliking her employer's recent attempts to murder his enemies, double-crosses Slade and is about to help free Steve, when a pair of hands grab her from behind. It is Omar, Slade's giant servant. He sends the Duchess flying across the room with a powerful back-hand slap, while Steve struggles against the rest of the bindings. He frees himself in the nick of time, as Omar draws his saber and whirls on him. Omar slashes at Steve's head, missing it by a hair. Steve counters by charging into Omar, putting all his practice as the college End Tackle Champion into play, until the giant is forced to tumble backward, cracking his head against the cement wall. The Duchess is helped to her feet and given a drink of water to help clear her head, then she and Steve untie the three boys and Alfred Forrest, their new acquaintance. They make a run for the back door, where Steve finds a spare machine gun on the way, and they all run for the hills, just as Slade notices their fleeing forms. Steve Carter makes his stand at a rocky area near the top of a steep hill and sends Alfred and the Duchess onward with the boys while he holds off their pursuers. Rusty stays behind to help Steve with the ammunition, and the two of them watch the men come to a halt at the foot of the hill. Down below, Long Sin discusses an idea he has with Slade. Sin will send his own men up, out in the open, to make the escapees exhaust their ammo, and then strike once the gun is empty! As it turns out, Steve has far more ammo than Long Sin had men, by the time the last bandit was downed, still is able to fire a few warning shots. Changing strategy, Long Sin orders Slade and his cronies to sneak around to the other side of the hill. Another of Long Sin's men shoots Steve in the hand, disabling him. Rusty takes over manning the machine gun, to let Steve bandage himself, neither of them realizing the danger that now is right behind them, as Slade and Long Sin's captain aims a pistol at their backs. | Appearing10 = Featured Characters: * * Specs * Tubby Supporting Characters: * Steve Carter Antagonists: * Ebenezer Slade * Omar * Long Sin * The Captain * Hunch * Dr. Kurtz Other Characters: * The Duchess * Alfred P. Forrest | StoryTitle11 = Anchors Aweigh: "It Ends With an Alligator" | Synopsis11 = In the jungles near the Panama Canal, LCDR Don Kerry and Red Murphy spend some time in a rented rowboat, recreationally hunting alligators. There they encounter, and pursue, a raggedy, old, weird, disheveled madman. He eludes them in the jungle, and they split up. Don trips over a trip-wire, falls flat, and is captured by the old madman, who turns out to be a corrupt engineer, formerly famous, who has accepted a pile of foreign money to pack some big loads of explosives around the Panama Canal. Just as the old kook tries to detonate the charges, (and pretty much by completely pure luck), Red has also tripped over the same wire, and just cut it in an angry gesture. Red then finds the well-built shack where the crazy engineer is about to murder Kerry, with a machete, tackles him, loses him, frees Kerry, then they both chase the traitor into the jungle. The old maniac loses his footing and falls into a river, where a big alligator gets him. | Appearing11 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * Red Murphy Antagonists: * unnamed Madman Locations: * ** | Notes = * Last issue for Fred Guardineer on Anchors Aweigh. Next issue Bart Tumey takes over. * Cotton Carver by George Newman returns this issue, after skipping Adventure Comics #38. After this issue, the feature is absent until Adventure Comics #41. * Don Coyote is absent this issue but returns next issue. * Final issue for Tom Brent by Jim Chambers. * First issue of this magazine for Jack Woods by Jim Chambers, formerly a regular feature in More Fun Comics, where it ran from #1 (Feb 1935) through #35 (Sep 1938). Jack Woods will spend 3 more months in the pages of Adventure Comics before his story is cancelled in issue #42. * Also appearing in this issue of Adventure Comics were: ** AdventurEvents by Terry Gilkison ** AiRecords by Terry Gilkison ** Batter Up! by Paul Gustavson ** Cinema Dust by Sheldon Moldoff ** "Money Makers" (text story) (reprint) by Frank Thomas ** Tidbits by Sheldon Moldoff ** Tiny by Fred Schwab | Trivia = | Recommended = | Links = }}